If you are looking for quick cash to use for short time frames like 2-3 months, then this is a great program.

Much less than option 1, but much quicker timeframe.

I am hopefully, 9-10 years away from retirement, and plan on owning 7-10 rental SFR in that time frame.

The timeframe looks very tight to me.

Considerations we've heard/read about are: distance to primary residence, location of the property in comparison to the primary residence (ie, if we live by the beach and we buy a property by the beach, it's likely not our vacation or second home, whereas living inland and buying in downtown or by the beach could be a more likely second or vacation home), and minimum timeframes for owner occupancy (like 14 nights if we eventually choose to do STRs there).We live inland and if this does allow us to buy at a higher price point, we're open to looking in more tourist-y areas of the city.

I don't plan to buy anymore inexpensive properties - all my "cash flow" is gone with the repair issues of older renovated homes.

Permit timeframes are long and I'm looking to flip the home. 

Did you sign a contract with the GC stating all of the work to be done, payment, work time frame, etc?

You want to find lenders who work on a similar time-frame as you.

Seems like the rates wouldn't have changed enough in that timeframe to significantly impact your numbers, but I don't know any specifics of the deal.